My Mom and Dad love to read and they made sure we kids had great books to enjoy too.

In fact, Dad built a wall-to-wall bookcase in our dining room and my parents filled it with wonderful books.

I loved after school snack time. I’d pick an interesting book from the shelf, and before I knew it, I was transported to a previously undiscovered time and place.

One of those books was The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.

What an amazing opportunity -- to learn about the life and feelings of an American hero in his own words! I was just a kid, but hearing about his life straight from his own heart helped me feel close to Benjamin Franklin. I loved his practical, down-to-earth approach and his constant desire to learn and improve. He credited his success in life to the 13 virtues he chose to cultivate, and he tells about his plan for self-improvement in his autobiography.

Did you know that Benjamin Franklin's autobiography is available for free many places online? (It's in the public domain.)

You can get it as a Kindle book and download it to your Kindle or computer.